Federal Way police ask about sex offender who fled Canada into Wash.

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FEDERAL WAY – Michael Stanley, described by Canadian police as a high-risk, violent sex offender, recently fled from Canada into the United States and is believed to be in Washington. Police say he is a U.S. citizen who was born in the state and still has family here.

Canada says it doesn’t want him back now.

Michael Stanley (Photo: CBC)

Federal Way police are now working with the U.S. Border Patrol to try to nail down Stanley’s movements because police have noticed a resemblance between Stanley and the sketch of a suspect in a recent attempted child luring in Federal Way.

“We’ve asked them to provide any specifics as far as dates,” police spokeswoman Cathy Shrock said. “We know he went missing (in Canada). They say they found his bracelet, like October 1st, but we haven’t been able to determine exactly when he crossed over (the border). The idea is he crossed over in Blaine, but we don’t know exactly when.”

Police don’t yet know if this is the same person.

Eight-year-old Nevaeh, who reported a man trying to grab her in a playfield earlier this month at Brigadoon Elementary School in Federal Way, said, “He was wearing a blue shirt and he was wearing tight pants, so tight I thought he wasn’t even wearing pants. He had black and brown hair. He had a mustache and he had a hat that has symbols of G Star F.”

Last week, Nevaeh sat down with a Federal Way Police Department sketch artist and help detectives develop a sketch of the suspect.

When tips from the public mentioned the sketch looked a lot like that of 48-year-old Stanley, the police took note.

“He had a bracelet for a reason and he wasn’t supposed to leave Canada,” Schrock said of Stanley. “He cut that bracelet off and so, obviously, in Canada he’s wanted. I’m not exactly sure what the border rules are.”

Canadian police say Stanley is a violent repeat sex offender and is a high risk to re-offend, with a history of taking children from playgrounds.

Nevaeh’s mother was one of the first to notice the similarities in the faces and the timing of it all.

“It was kind of like wow, you know, is this the same guy or is it just coincidental or what? I saw all of those reports and stuff and it’s kind of scary. It’s just like three, four days apart,” Nevaeh’s mom, Laurie, said.

Authorities in Canada say Stanley entered crossed the border at Blaine last Monday, two days after Nevaeh was grabbed, but police aren’t certain and want to be sure.

So does Nevaeh’s mom. She’s still worried about her daughter’s safety.

“I drive her, or her brother walks her, and friends will come over and pick her up. She can go with just one person or by herself,” Laurie said.

3 comments

John Wayne

There is something not quite right here. This story was on our local (Canadian) news last week, it told of this man on the run, who had entered the US, was questioned by the US authorities, who knew about his removing his monitoring ankle bracelet, but then was then allowed to go on his way as they didnt have an official reason to hold him!
Remember you do not go through any Canadian process when you LEAVE Canada, just by the US authorities when you ENTER the US. It says above "Authorities in Canada say Stanley entered crossed the border at Blaine last Monday" Well the only way that the Canadian authorities would know this, would be if the US told them. Someone certainly dropped the ball on this one, and now there is some maniac running around Washington State.!